


Play It My Way!

by DispleasedWriter_Myst



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Amnesia, Developing Friendships, Gen, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), Genderfluid Character, Magic, Named Apprentice (The Arcana), POV Second Person, Pre-Canon, The Arcana (Visual Novel) Spoilers, they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27318676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DispleasedWriter_Myst/pseuds/DispleasedWriter_Myst
Summary: [ Three years pre-canon, The Arcana Books I-V ]You’re stuck playing the apprentice, having just awoken from your ‘resurrection’ and consequently get told that to return back home, you’ve got to complete everyone’s routes. Just what you needed.If I have to play… I’ll just play it my way!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue: Into the Arcana

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Play It My Way!  
> A story in which the Apprentice is someone from the real world and in order to return home, they must complete everyone's routes... And happen to fall in love with their chosen character along the way.  
> I have my Midnight Activities series to work on but I just finished playing the Arcana and everyone's routes (including the unfinished ones!), and got this idea stuck in my head. Just had to write it down. A guilty pleasure fanfiction written for myself and also my friends. It may have sporadic updates but it will be finished. This is also put on my Wattpad (MysteryWriter022) as well. 
> 
> Do enjoy.

The time is 1:10 AM. 

Infinity Key Weekend is nearing its end, less than 40 minutes on the clock until the effect is lost. You lay in your bed and on your side, arm bent underneath your head to cushion it as you attempt to find a more comfortable position to lay in. In your hand is your phone, the brightness lowered down as to not blind yourself in your dark bedroom. It’s already late and you should be going to bed, but quarantine has your sleep schedule fucked up. There’s no helping it, especially when you are so close to finishing it… 

For the past three weeks, your ultimate goal is playing through the possible routes of the Arcana. 

The Arcana, an interactive game involving magic, romance, demon deals and of course, a tarot deck. Your friends had recommended it to you, having once mentioned it in a Discord chat and piquing your interest. Despite your horrid luck with any sort of dating game, that of which ended up with you cruelly rejected by your interest, you decided to download it and play it. At first, your luck was unbelievable- you met with your first Infinity Key Weekend and breezed through your first route. The sight of the Upright Ending made you brighten -  _ perhaps you didn’t have bad luck if you got the easy way out! _ \- and only doubled your efforts in earning the Reversed Endings and playing through the other routes as well. 

Three infinity key weekends, five more upright endings on the first rodeo and much late nights later and you’re finally on your last route. You know that three out of six routes aren’t complete but it would please you very much to have made such progress in a short amount of time. Upon its completion, you sigh and look at your phone screen with pride swelling in your chest. You send your friends a quick text, boasting of your accomplishments and earning looks of disbelief at how fast you finished everything. With that said and done, wishing your friends a goodnight, you turn off your phone and slide it under your pillow. 

_Alright_ , you turn over to lay on your other side, snuggling into your pillow and pulling the blankets up over your shoulders. _Time to get some sleep_. 

You yawn widely, a hand coming to cover your mouth, sleep weighing heavily on your eyelids. You were more tired than you thought, another yawn escaping. Silence befalls you, the soft whirs of the fan and the surrounding darkness lulls you into a sense of security. Before you knew it, you were already falling into the endless abyss that was sleep. 

Unknown to you, your phone lit up with a new notification. 

_______ 

  
  
  


You come to the feeling of someone touching your shoulder and shaking you. 

You frown, wondering why the hell someone was trying to wake you up for. Instead of checking, you attempt to curl up into the warmth but your body feels heavy like lead. Weird but you learn not to question your dreams too much. They do tend to get pretty wild. Your wishes don’t go ignored as you’re suddenly pulled closer to something warm and firm. It hasn’t hit you yet that something definitely isn’t right with this situation but you’re slowly regaining feeling in your body, that heavy feeling slowly washing away. You feel your fingers twitch and all movements stop. 

Then, you felt something wet drop onto your face. 

Suddenly, you’re well aware that something is wrong and that you should wake up. A chill runs down your spine and it feels like someone just knocked you over the head with a frying pan and beat you with it for extra measure. A near soundless whine of pain escapes you. Why does it hurt so much…? You stir in whoever’s grip you’re in, feeling clothes and becoming self conscious of the person hugging you close to them. A vague voice, desperate yet oh-so-hopeful, murmurs and you can barely make out what they are saying. 

“Please…” The person begs with sadness in his voice. You jolt in their grip involuntarily but that only tightens the hand on your shoulder and the arms wrapped around you. 

Another drop. 

You flinch as it slides down your face, as if you were the one who shed the tear. Your face screws up as you finally have the strength to open your eyes. _What on Earth…_ Your eyes flutter open, squinting when an influx of light floods your vision. You blink a few times to get used to it but all you see is the color white. 

White…? 

You felt your eyes widen. The feeling of hair tickles your nose and chin, the person holding you now have their face shoved into your neck, their lips against your chin and their nose barely grazing your skin. Their lips are parted, trembling breaths warming your skin and you can feel even more tears wetting you. You almost begin to panic, now aware that you aren’t in the safety of your home and faced with a crying stranger, holding you close to them like you’re going to disappear.  _ Who the fuck are you? _ Is what you want to yell but it only comes out as a sound of discomfort. 

Upon hearing the sound, the stranger freezes. They jolt upward and you are face to face with them. You feel yourself blank out when your eyes meet theirs, something very much not adding up when the stranger smiles with such relief and calls out your name. 

“Ren… You’re awake!” 

_Hah?_ You stare indefinitely at the man, observing his features and hoping to be wrong. The stranger’s fluffy white hair stands out against his tanned skin, his eyes, while glistening with tears, is a color you’ve never seen on any other human - a deep set of  _ violet,  _ of all things - and a smile that comes off as somehow familiar… The only person that could fit this description is… 

**_No way._** You feel panic building up from within. This can’t be possible, because there’s no way this is happening to you! 

You feel your breath picking up, border lining hyperventilation when you struggle in his grip. His eyes, once shining with relief, are now filled with concern at the reaction. He holds you tighter, if that were possible, but it does nothing to calm you because this person couldn’t be who you think it is. 

“Ren?” He breathes out in an unsure question. When you don’t respond and only struggle harder, he realizes the gravity of the situation. “Ren!”

You jolt at the feeling of something cool washing over you, the panic that was setting in was gone just as fast as it came. But instead of staying awake and trying to figure out what was happening, now that you were calm, you did the exact opposite of what you wanted. 

You, who prides themselves on being the baddest bitch on the planet, fainted.


	2. Discoveries Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon waking up for the second time and realizing that meeting Asra was not a dream, you find out that there’s only one way to get back home- by playing the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recap:  
> After a night of playing the Arcana, you decide to go to sleep. But when you wake up, you end up in the arms of a crying Asra… And promptly faint again in his arms. 
> 
> _____
> 
> A new chapter and some discoveries are made. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

You awake with a gasp.

Jolting upward into a sitting position, you stare into nothingness as you pant heavily. Your chest rises and falls rapidly, feeling like you just ran a whole marathon but having done nothing of the sort. The blanket pools around your waist and feels much too warm against your bare legs. You hastily gulp, throat and mouth unusually dry, and attempt to blink away the blur that clouds your vision. Something doesn’t feel right, the vague memories of your dream coming to mind.

 _What an absurd dream_. You think, remembering the stranger cradling you so tenderly. _Surely, that couldn’t have been who I thought it was…_

You rub the crust of sleep from your eyes, a yawn escaping you in the process. You still have this feeling of wrongness but in the aftermath of sleep, you barely register this fact and continue on with your day. You stretch your arms over your head and flex your toes despite the protests of your body. Scrunching up your nose, you scratch your head and swing your legs over the bedside and push yourself out of the bed…

**THUMP!**

You yelp loudly, your legs suddenly feeling like jelly and collapsing under you. That definitely awakened you from your sleepy daze. The shock from the fall, the sting on your knees, and the budding ache on your body forces you to realize that your feelings of wrongness was something important. In the distance, you hear someone coming and the door swings open.

There, standing at the doorway, is the one person you were dreaming about.

Asra stands at the doorway, eyes wide and hair looking as if he had run his hand through it about a hundred times. He wears his casual outfit of a shirt and pants, scarf missing but showing off that slither of chest. Asra looks tired, like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep but nonetheless concerned about the sound of something falling to the ground.

The stranger much like Asra stares at you and you stare right back at him. You want to jerk forward as if lunging at him and tell him off - _The fuck you’re looking at, brethren? You wanna fight, my guy?_ \- opening your mouth to do so, only for a wheezing sound to come out as a result. Both hands move to cover your mouth, wondering what was wrong with your voice all of a sudden.

The stare down ends when Asra laughs, light and airy, walking towards you and kneeling down in front of you. With a closer look, you could see the dark circles under his eyes but the violet color sparkles with relief, a smile on his face as he reaches out and pushes your hands away.

“Geez Ren,” he says to you. “Did you fall out of bed _and_ lose your voice?”

You continue to stare. Asra frowns, the thought of you losing your voice concerning him, but at your never ending stare, he quickly changes his expression. That smile returns and he stands up, holding out a hand for you.

“Well come on, don’t want you staying on the cold, hard floor for too long.”

You grasp his hand, noting it’s much larger than your own and practically engulfs it. He pulls you up, expecting you to stand but your legs give out once more and you collapse forward into his chest.

“Woah.” Asra blinks and looks down at your mess of hair. “Are you really okay, Ren?”

You want to scoff, _does it look like I’m okay?_ But with your voice temporarily lost, you huff and jerk your head to look up at him. You rest your chin on his chest and scowl, ignoring the way Asra gives you an incredulous look. You gesture to your legs and shake your head. No, for some reason, you can’t walk. Now you’re over here like a newborn fawn, struggling.

“You can’t walk?”

A nod.

Asra sighs, unable to mask the worry on his face, and scoops you up into his arms. You squeak, arms wrapping around his shoulders and tightening. If this man drops you, you were going to raise hell in this place. He laughs at your squeak, earning another scowl from you. Asra lowers you on the bed and you remove your arms from around him.

“Does anything else hurt?”

You frown. Does anything hurt? Well aside from the dull ache from falling, you were fine overall. That doesn’t, however, solve your issue. This man may look like Asra but is he really? His overall manners and care over you is much too genuine and gentle for him to be a kidnapper. And there was no way he was wearing contacts or a wig, neither did it seem like dye. His eyebrows and eyelashes are the natural white of his hair.

“Ren?”

You jerk your head towards him, his hands reaching out to envelop yours. Your frown deepens, causing more concern to show on his face. In a moment of brilliance, you turn over one of his hands and begin to fingerspell on his palm. With every letter,

W-h-o

“Who..”

a-r-e

“Are…”

y-o-u ?

“You…?”

“Who… Am I?” Asra seems stunned at this revelation. “Ren… Tell me you’re joking. You do remember who I am, no?”

You want to smack him upside the head. If you had remembered him, you would’ve said it. But you don’t and you want to confirm his identity once and for all. Is he really Asra or is he some twisted kidnapper who’s trying to lull you into a false sense of security? He seems frozen in place, removing his hands from your and going to caress your face. His hands radiate warmth against your face as he forces you to look at him.

“Ren. It’s not funny.”

You scowl and reach up to pinch his wrist, though it doesn’t get him to let you go. Asra looks like he wants to cry but shakes it off.

“Alright. Okay.” He says, more to himself. “You don’t remember. Fine. I’m Asra, your… Friend.”

You raise an eyebrow. He sounded very unsure of his status as a friend but now you have your confirmation. Asra laughs, his eyes glistening with tears as he removes his hands from your face. It leaves a lingering warmth that quickly fades once exposed. Asra stands up and gives you one fleeting smile.

“I… Have something to do. I’ll be right back.”

You watch him leave the room, the door closing behind him. You slump in your spot, letting out a strangled sound as you cover your face. You flop behind and collapse onto the bed, feeling something poke into your shoulder. You squeak and push yourself upward on your elbows. You find it to be your phone, how Asra didn’t see it was a miracle but not the weirdest thing to happen to you thus far. You stare at it until the screen lights up and there is a new notification.

 _What the fuck…?_ You blink and read the notification.

**_Congratulations! You’re the lucky winner!_ **

Hah? You squint your eyes and open your phone. You tap the notification and it leads you to the Arcana app, where it starts up normally but instead of showing the regular screen where your romantic interests and routes are, it displays a little message box with the same congratulations the notification read. You feel your eyes widen as you continue reading the message.

**_Congratulations! You’re the lucky winner!_ **

**_You’ve been chosen to experience the romance of the Arcana on a deeper level. As a result, you’ve been sent to the Arcana world. In order to return home, you must complete everyone’s routes and that means their upright and reversed routes as well._ **

**_Enjoy playing the Arcana!_ **

You stare.

The screen stares right back at you.

You squint.

For some reason, you get the feeling that someone was watching you from behind the screen and feeling nervous at your staring. Whoever was watching you from behind the screen should be sweating because you were ready to fight. These hands are rated E for everyone, after all, anybody can catch these hands with the right reason.

Weird and mysterious figures transporting you into a fictional world aren’t an exception.

You feel a headache coming on, knowing exactly how the Arcana plays out. You close your eyes and huff through your nose.

Just what you needed. An adventure in a world not yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my other stories on AO3 and my social media. 
> 
> Instagram: glitter_gmyst  
> Wattpad: MysteryWriter022
> 
> I may not respond directly but I do read comments, so comment if you want! I always reply to questions in the endnotes.   
> Until next update.


End file.
